


Parabatai

by Facade_Expert



Series: The Price of Intimacy [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Protective Alec Lightwood, Vulnerable Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 12:49:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11829093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Facade_Expert/pseuds/Facade_Expert
Summary: Magnus had this uncanny ability to draw things out of Alec, when he was embarrassed or hesitant to broach a subject. So… Alec had to find a way to draw things out of Magnus in return.Right.Okay.Decision made.Now how by the angel does he do it?





	Parabatai

There had been something Magnus had not been quite asking him all day. He'd come up to Alec, open his mouth, then change his mind and ask something to do with the catering or cleanup or where to send the gifts and keepsakes from Max's party.

 

It was getting on Alec's nerves.

 

Magnus had this uncanny ability to draw things out of Alec, when he was embarrassed or hesitant to broach a subject. So… Alec had to find a way to draw things out of Magnus in return.

 

Right.

 

Okay.

 

Decision made.

 

Now how by the angel does he do it?

 

The obvious thing to do was ask him outright, but Magnus was a master of misdirection and brushing prickly questions to the side. It didn't help that he knew plenty of ways to divert and distract Alec away from such questions while Alec didn't have such ammunition in return.

 

"Not that I don't like the attention, darling, but is there something you wanted to ask me?" Magnus asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

"I can't just like looking at you?" Alec asked, actually curious. Magnus ducked his head, not quite blushing but… definitely something. Flustered maybe? He needed to get better at reading this man.

 

"By all means, Alexander." Magnus invited with a leer and a shake of his hips as he returned to consulting his cleanup list. Alec laughed and couldn't resist coming closer and slinking his arms around Magnus' waist.

 

"Not like that." Alec countered, "Well, like that too." he conceded "But you're not just sexy, Magnus, you're beautiful."

 

"Oh?" Anyone else would see that as an overconfident Magnus wanting to have his ego stroked, but Alec? Alec was beginning to see something else in Magnus' slight hitch in breath and lowered eyes.

 

Maybe he was getting better at reading Magnus after all.

 

Alec squeezed Magnus' waist.

 

"I actually, kinda, got the feeling there was something on _your_ mind." It deliberately wasn't a question, he wanted to test if those were easier for Magnus to answer.

 

"It's not important." Magnus tried to brush off.

 

"It doesn't have to be important. I want to hear it anyway." That made Magnus smile.

 

"Careful… once you open the nonsense question door it's very hard to close." he teased.

 

"I think I'll be the judge of whether it's nonsense." Alec countered,

 

"Is the moon made out of cheese?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"Is this all a simulation powered by robots?"

 

"Okay, now that one might just be nonsense."

 

"Are we really all Groot?"

 

"Wait, I know that one." Alec said triumphantly "It's from one of those space movies!" he needed to keep the tone light, but this wasn't a light moment, not really. Underneath this banter, there was a battle raging.

 

 _Let me in._ Alec begged silently, but knew saying it out loud would only make his goal all the more unreachable.

 

"Jace… said something today that made me wonder…" Magnus trailed off, turning in Alec's arms to face him. But eye contact seemed to be the wrong move, because the Warlock shrank away and returned to the list. "It doesn't matter. I've got far more pressing matters to attend to."

 

 _Almost._ Alec lamented as he watched his Warlock bustle around the room again. But he wouldn't press, while he appreciated Magnus stating and asking things outright Alec knew Magnus only closed up under the same onslaught.

 

But he at least had a lead on where to go next.

 

"Did I ever thank you?" Alec asked, catching Magnus by the arm before he got too far and pulling his back into his arms, he was becoming quite fond the position. Magnus clung to him in return, quite happy to stay if Alec stopped pushing, it seemed. Alec pushed down the stab of guilt he felt at knowing how much he'd scared Magnus tonight.

 

"You did." Magnus replied, breathing deeply, nose buried in Alec's shirt.

 

"Well, I'll thank you again, then. I couldn't have done this without you."

 

"You're resourceful. I'm sure you would have done just fine." Alec chuckled.

 

"Yeah, no. Have you ever had Izzy's cooking? I'm even worse at party planning. Max would have ended up with an empty warehouse and a cake."

 

Magnus chuckled into Alec's shoulder and Alec felt the vibrations. This was nice.

 

He gathered Magnus closer.

 

Magnus had begged Alec to open up, to not push him away.

 

Now Alec just needed to find his own way of asking Magnus to do the same.

 

***

 

"Alright, I give, what did you say to Magnus?" Alec asked, leaning on Jace's open bedroom door. He could work on finesse later, this particular problem was getting on his nerves. Jace looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I mean he's been… jittery."

 

Indeed Magnus had been finding many ways to keep himself busy and moving in the last few days. There were still dates and kisses, but there was an edge to it that wasn't there before, as if Magnus felt he was being watched.

 

Had Jace threatened Magnus to be good to him or something? Because that would be a tad rich coming from Mr. One-Night-Stand.

 

Jace sat up straighter, sensing the serious tone Alec was using.

 

"I don't know, man. I mean, we talk, I live here of course we talk."

 

"Well, it was a few days ago, the day of Max's party." Alex elaborated, folding his arms, "Anything coming to mind?"

 

"Why? Am I in trouble?" Jace snarked. Alec sighed.

 

"Depends what you said." Jace shrugged.

 

"We just… this is your first relationship and… I know the physical stuff in particular is new to you and-"

 

"Wait, hold on. You told him that?!" Alec asked, dread creeping into his stomach. It wasn't that Magnus didn't know that, but still.

 

"Well, no, I didn't say it like _that_." Jace admitted. "Just… that I didn't want him to hurt you. That I'd been where he is, you know? Falling into the physical stuff fast and intense and-"

 

"Oh my god, shut up." Alec groaned, dread and guilt coursing through him. The last thing Magnus needed to be told was that they were going too fast. Apart from the fact that they weren't, Magnus had been even more tentative as a result and Alec _hated_ it.

 

"You asked!" Jace said defensively.

 

"So you actually talked to my boyfriend about how fast our physical relationship was going?" Alec asked, trying to keep the growl out of his voice. A wave of protectiveness not only rushing through him, but slipping into Jace through the bond.

 

"He has a reputation! Ihad to say something to him!" Jace defended. "You're always taking care of me and Izzy, why can't I do the same for you? Especially in an area that's… foreign territory. You think I can't feel you getting closer to him? I just want to make sure it's-"

 

"How could you possibly know whether we-"

 

"Oh please." Jace asked snorted. "You stayed the night last week and I swear I felt-"

 

"Oh my god, I can't believe I'm hearing this." Alec moaned, putting his face in his hands.

 

Wait.

 

Felt?

 

"Jace, you… you didn't tell Magnus you felt us having sex through the bond did you?" he asked. "Because I've _never_ felt that kind of thing from you. And you can't feel things that haven't happened."

 

Jace's mouth dropped open.

 

Alec blushed. He hadn't meant to say that. Whether he and Magnus had sex was none of Jace's business.

 

"I just… I feel you getting close to him, and I worry." Jace confessed eventually. "This is your first relationship, Alec. Why can't you let yourself be taken care of for once? Protected?"

 

Alec appreciated the sentiment, he really did, and there wasn't a faster way to get back to how things were than to protect each other. But the assumption that Magnus was something Alec needed to be protected from was starting to piss him off.

 

"By attacking Magnus?" Alec retorted.

 

"Aw, come on. He's the High Playboy of Brooklyn, I'm not going to fluster him."

 

"I'm sorry, he's the what?" Alec asked, looking up sharply. Jace raised an eyebrow at him.

 

"I told you, Magnus has a… reputation…" Alec looked at him intently, "… for being a bit of a slut." Jace finished reluctantly.

 

It was coming into clearer focus with every word, every memory that was locking into place:

 

_"Thank you… for being here when I woke up."_

 

_"Don't push me away."_

 

_"You're not the only one who feels vulnerable."_

 

_"This may surprise you, but you're new for me too!"_

 

Alec didn't want to think about how many people Magnus had been with, but at the same time it was hard not to every time he did something that caught Magnus by surprise. Things that with his long life so far and seventeen thousand lovers, shouldn't be new to _anyone_ let alone someone as loving and caring as Magnus Bane.

 

"Just please… don't talk about that with him again." he asked.

 

"You're overreacting. He was fine." Jace waved off.

 

"Well maybe _I'm_ not fine with it." Alec snapped. Jace winced.

 

"Yeah, okay, I can see where that could get… awkward." he conceded.

 

"Thank you." Alex sighed in relief and left for the institute.

 

If _he_ had to be the embarrassed one, then so be it.

**Author's Note:**

> Heya :)
> 
> So... the finale was a bit of a roller-coaster huh?
> 
> So my stories are hardly cannon anymore, but, well, I don't really care. 
> 
> I love the original scenes. And I'm not the only one who practically died when they had those flashbacks right?
> 
> This might turn into a two parter, I'm having some writers block. 
> 
> **Title edited thanks to "birds in a trenchcoat" Thanks so much for noticing that typo :$
> 
> Stay tuned :D


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